Sopade

Sopade cooperative believes there is strength in numbers. Standing together, these Lake Kivu coffee farmers are able to take control of their businesses and improve their livelihoods.

Founded in
2017

Location
On the slopes near the Western shore of Lake Kivu, in Province du Sud Kivu

Altitude
1,500m

Membership
818 producers (207 women and 611 men)

Green coffee production capacity / year
47 tonnes

Varieties
Bourbon

Certifications
Organic

Average size of land per farmer
0.30 hectares

Grades
K3

Women of Sopade singing

Headquarter
in Dutu, Province du Sud Kivu

Infrastructure
1 washing station: Dutu

Management team
TBC

Technical team
8 agronomists and 4 technicians in the washing station during harvest time

Main harvest period
February to July

Export period of main harvest

Fly crop harvest period
October to December

Fly crop export period

Sopade

After years of being taken advantage of and marginalised by larger coffee buyers, small holder coffee farmers on the hills above the Western shore of Lake Kivu decided to take control of their businesses and livelihoods. Coffee growers got together and set up a non-profit association in 2017. Three years later, they transformed it into Sopade Coffee cooperative.

The cooperative has a washing station, a warehouse built from sustainable materials, owns two motorised pirogues for transporting cherries, a NISSAN jeep and a TVS motorbike for transporting staff.

Sopade is a member of the Réseau des Coopératives des Producteurs du Café Cacao (RCPCA), a network of cooperatives producing coffee and cocoa.